CURRENT MISSION

Execute a host of ill-conceived plans with gross imprecision

ABOUT ME

I'm back in school after a four-year stint in the real world... I'm calling it an early retirement. I had been living on the east coast, but now I'm back west, wandering through the Cascades and falling back in love with wide open spaces. Times are good.

When I'm not working or schooling, I spend my time climbing rocks and mountains, or making music with friends. Put together a few people with a working knowledge of rhythm and melody, a bottle of bourbon to share, and a pot of chili getting hot on the stove, and I'll be alright. I also read like it's going out of style... well, I guess in a way it is. If you like Loren Eisley, Saint-Exupery, Walt Whitman, or Edward Abbey, I'll bet we'll have lots to talk about. If not, we'll probably still have lots to talk about.

PHILOSOPHY

Hmmm -- this is probably more of a face-to-face kind of thing. What good is talking about your personal philosophy if there's nobody there to roll their eyes at you when you start to wade out into a sea of nonsense? Maybe it's enough to say here that in life I'm more of a sculptor than a painter -- when I'm trying to work through something tough, I try to strip away layers until the shape of the thing emerges.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'm a newcomer to the world of digitally-networked global couch surfing, so I'm not sure yet exactly how I'll participate. I'm ending a stint on the road, so initially I'll be more of a couch receiver than a couch provider while I set up shop in a new town, but I'm excited to pay it forward as soon as I have a couch and four walls to hold it.

Interests

Rock climbing; Nerdy math and sciencey things; Making music (mostly with instruments that don't plug into anything); Reading; Driving (the longer the better); Forming ill-conceived plans and then executing them with gross imprecision; Listening to and telling good stories

• shopping
• reading
• music
• surfing
• rock climbing
• mathematics
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Sam Beam is my favorite song writer. Loren Eisley is my favorite author. Wes Anderson makes my favorite movies. All of these are subject to change, though.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I once touched a spacecraft that now orbits the moon... that was a big deal for me.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can show you some beautiful math. If you've never seen beautiful math before, or if you don't believe that it exists, then you might find it particularly enlightening. I can show you how to make a mean and hearty lentil soup. I can tell you stories about days in the mountains and on the sides of cliffs that'll make your skin crawl. I can paraphrase lines from great authors and philosophers, fail to cite my references, and make you think that I'm a lot smarter than I really am. I can make friends with just about anybody.

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